The All-Fruits & Veggies Diet Experience (Day 1)

Okay, so let's just lay it all out on the table. I am not a healthy eater.

My idea of a fruit serving is a fruit flavored smoothie that resembles fruit but tastes more like ice-cream. There are times when I've found myself arguing with the theological translations of the Bible because surely the "paradise" in the Garden of Eden wouldn't be JUST fruit...

And today, I had my first mango experience. Real mango, that is. From a tree. I had to google how to cut it.

In case you were wondering why I'm blogging about this, it's because my husband and I have decided to go one full week, eating only fruits and veggies (and a few nuts and beans to maintain my lean and fit physique, of course). And this is day one.

I've never had a mango before. I don't like the sound of the name when it comes out of my mouth, so I've never been daring enough to actually put one in it. And I'm serious about having to consult Google to see how to eat it. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to eat the skin or not. I didn't even know there was a pit inside of it.

Truth: I didn't really like it. But we bought quite a few of them and I imagine I'll be eating quite a few of them this week. The taste was sweet and it was good. But I had to close my eyes and imagine that I was Tom Hanks in Castaway and I had gone a long time without anything to eat and this one fruit, this mango before me, was the prize food I've been looking for. I'm dead serious, that's what I did. And I wasn't sure if I should cut it into bits and eat it by the slice, so I basically chose to use my front teeth like a cheese grater and just saw it off into my mouth. Probably not exactly the 5 start restaurant way to eat it, but I'm learning. I texted Paul after I had it and he asked me if it was ripe. Um.....may have to google that one again. How would I know if it's ripe, it's my FIRST ONE!!!

Verdict: The mango rates as "okay" to my tastebud preferences. I have a weird taste in my mouth now and my tongue feels furry. I'm not sure if it's the taste of the mango or the taste of my pride going down the drain for actually writing about it. But I'm vowing to write about this experience because I believe this is going to be my jumpstart into a healthier life and losing weight. And when people see me a few months from now and see that I've lost weight, they will inevitably ask me how and I will tell them to read my blog. Easy enough, right?

At the beginning of the year 2012, I gave up fast food and soda as my New Year's resolution. And for the first time in my life, I've actually stuck with it. And now....now, my friends, I'm taking it to an even higher level. Cheers to a more healthy me.

Now, does anyone have any dental floss around here? I've got a good size mango strip stuck in my teeth...

Meet Morrie, my new shoes

I introduce to you today, my new Five Finger shoes. I call them "Morrie". Because I love them. And "Morrie" is short for "Amore", which as we all know is "Love" in ... um ... some other language...

So, here's the way I see it. When God made us, He designed our bodies to function in a unique way. For me, that unique way is flat-footed and barefoot!

I'm not a shoe person. I don't like socks for one. For another, I just simply love to be barefoot. I like my wide feet to spread the way God intended them to and I believe He created me with leather-like soles on my own feet to make barefoot living an essential and glorious part of my life. Not to mention, I think I have pretty sexy feet (but that's neither here nor there).

I have only had one pair of shoes ever in my life that I have loved. All I know is they were Asics and they loved me back. I had tried a newer pair of Asics when I trained for last year's half marathon, but I hated them. I ended up wearing my old comfy ones and they did me just fine.

So, here's the deal with running shoes for me. I'm a toe runner. I have always supposed this has come from the training in all the sports I've ever played...basketball, volleyball, track (sprints), racquetball...they have all had me up on my toes. Apart from sports, I even walk around the house on the balls of my feet. It's where I am most comfortable.

Today, I ran for the first time in shoes I love that are as close to being barefoot as I can get. I've heard it from both the haters and the lovers of the shoe, but for me and my running style, I have been won over by my own personal experience. Granted I only ran a mile & a half in them today, I was more comfortable running than I have ever been (especially considering it was a spontaneous, non-stretch, non-prepared run).

What Do I Know of Holy?

Heard this song for the first time last week in church. I haven't been able to get it out of my head. It's as if God dug into the depths of my hidden heart and inspired these lyrics to be written and shared at the perfect time. Please take a few minutes to crank it and close your eyes.

http://pl.st/s/784435217

Wake Up Call.

The kids didn't have school today. They didn't yesterday either, but I had to work so I don't feel like I really had a chance to hang out with them or do anything fun. So, today was my day to do something different.

My way of letting TJ have fun was to let him go to a friend's house to play. That rarely happens, so he thought it was pretty special for him to get to do that. Taylyn, on the other hand, is always begging me to do things with just her...girl time. So today, after her eye appointment, I took her to the mall close by.

When I walked in, I realized that in her ten years of life, this is the first...FIRST...time I have ever taken her shopping in the mall, for only that purpose. We've been to the mall to eat or to look at running shoes for me or to shop for Christmas presents for other people...but I had never before been just shopping at the mall with my daughter.

After buying her a few small things at a popular store that she's always wanted to go to, a swarm of girls one year older than her came up to her, smiling and excited to see her. And then came that awkward moment, the one I've been dreading since the day I found out I was pregnant with her, the one that came inevitably too soon...the moment where I realized that she's on the tail end of being a little girl and is beginning to blossom into a young lady, one with her own personality and humor and interests. Of course, she'll always be my little girl, but seeing her in that mall and surrounded with the other girls who were just one year older than her, shopping alone together made me stop and realize just how fast she is growing up.

For now, I am relishing every moment when she still wants to be around me and still wants me to tag along. At the same time, I am becoming very aware that my time like that is limited and my little girl is growing up so very quickly!

Those crazy sinners ...

I have a history of liking public figures without the best of reputations...Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Eminem, Whitney Houston, etc. These celebs are admittedly not the ideal stars I'd suggest to my own children to admire. None of them, to my knowledge, would be considered to be a poster child for any kind of Christian value that I hold.

They thing that I don't get, also, is that I don't just like them. The more controversial or intrusive they become, the more I am drawn to them. The deeper they spiral downward, the more I find myself defending their actions. I first recognized it when Kobe Bryant went through his very public ordeal that happened in Eagle, Colorado. It went on to Whitney Houston when Whitney Houston was publicly erratic and clearly under the influence of "something". And even in her recent tragic death, I find myself angered by those who both silently and openly claim "we all saw it coming"....

I've thought a lot about why I'm like this. I've even tried to change it within me. But here's the thing. I've recognized that I love these public figures because they perhaps represent the darker sides of me that I usually try to hide from my Christian circles. I'm arrogant. I'm addicted to self indulgence. I'm belligerent and angry, not outwardly but in my poisonous heart. I'm a liar. A cheat. A hoax, a spoiled brat, a complicated paradox of a person.

Yet, through all of this, there is someone...some ONE...who chooses to still believe in me, love me, accept me...forgive me.

What if, in all their wrongs, these public figures had someone who helped make them right. And even if they didn't, still found a way to love them and believe in them.

In the aftermath of Whitney's death, there remains an empty part of my heart for my fallen childhood idol. I am saddened by the loss of her talent and her life. And as I look at these controversial people, I am reminded by the truth that Paul speaks in Scripture....and how deeply it applies to my own life:

I Timothy 1:12 - 17

12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Suddenly, the sins of others don't seems as "bad", when I reflect on my very own heart and how far I have to grow...

Resting in God

I love my job. I really do. I can't actually say in one word "what" it is I do. I suppose I could say I am a barista. I know a lot about coffee and I simply love making a good drink for people. However, now that I'm working at a coffee shop that serves lunch, I'm not sure what to call myself (especially since I am making lunches a majority of the time). A food server? Preparer? Ah, who knows...

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is that it gives me the opportunity to pray for complete strangers. As I make their drinks or prepare their lunches, or even when I wipe off the tables, I say a quick prayer for the people who will be eating, drinking or dining there. I consider it such a privilege to be able to serve people, both physically and maybe in a spiritual way they aren't even aware of but perhaps they need.

Where I'm going from here, however, will likely sound like a contradiction in those previous two paragraphs. Why? Because one of the things I am also finding as I'm serving people all day is that I come home to serve my kids when they come home from school. And my husband. And many days, it doesn't seem like I stop serving.

I know this sounds like complaining, but I really don't think I am. Moreso, it's an acknowledgement to myself that I need to take breaks and rest. But not in the way you may think. While personal rest and relaxation sounds heavenly right now (after not going 5 minutes without a personal request from SOMEONE today), I am realizing that I need to step back and find rest in God. While I love bringing requests to Him, I am also recognizing in a HUGE way my need to just listen, to be quiet and open my ears to what God is trying to tell me and teach me at any given moment. When I get so entangled with bringing what only seems to be my requests to God, I forget and easily miss the rest He provides for me when I quietly pursue His voice.

There are times during the day when I wish I could just stop. Not from physical exhaustion or from overwhelming tasks, but because I find myself overcome with a relentless desire to just climb up on my heavenly Father's lap and curl up close enough to just hear His heart. I've been neglecting that lately.

Of all the things I'm proud of so far in 2012, this is one of them. I present to you, the Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad. Okay, so the salad itself is not what makes me proud. But me making it...well, that's another story.

I have never been one to like making food. I liked to bake. I liked to eat! But never have I really enjoyed making food until this past month. I started working at a coffee shop here in town to make coffee. I knew they served lunch, but I just wanted to make coffee. I quit a job at another coffee shop because I hated making sandwiches with the sandwich shop that was attached to it.

For some reason this is different now. Not just different...unexplainable. I am LOVING making the lunches. In fact, I would prefer to make lunches over coffee now when I'm on the clock. And not only that, I am finding that passion is being transferred to my home and I am excited to cook and make new foods.

I even bought my own apron.

This upcoming Tuesday, I'm making my own soup to serve to all the patrons. And they aren't afraid to give their opinions whether or not they like it or not. I'm super excited.

So don't be surprised if I start posting photos of my new edible creations!